


sparklejollytwinklejingley

by TongueTiedRaven



Series: 12 Days of Prompts [9]
Category: Ao no Exorcist | Blue Exorcist
Genre: Christmas Decorations, Christmas Fluff, Fluff, Friendship, Gen, all the exwires are in this, decorating for friends
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-22
Updated: 2020-12-22
Packaged: 2021-03-10 19:28:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,947
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28232448
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TongueTiedRaven/pseuds/TongueTiedRaven
Summary: It started with Shiemi deciding the twins' dorm needed a holiday intervention. It ended with sukiyaki and a dorm decorated for Christmas.Just an average day in the life of the Cram Group.
Relationships: Kamiki Izumo & Suguro "Bon" Ryuuji, Moriyama Shiemi & Okumura Rin, Okumura Rin & Suguro "Bon" Ryuuji, Shima Renzou & Suguro "Bon" Ryuuji
Series: 12 Days of Prompts [9]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2047784
Comments: 6
Kudos: 31





	sparklejollytwinklejingley

**Author's Note:**

> Today's prompt is Christmas Decorations

It started with Bon receiving a note from Shiemi. The girl tried to be subtle about it and she failed miserably. The hand off happened as they switched from regular classes to Cram classes. She palmed it off in an endearingly obvious way and he was grateful there weren’t more people in the room or questions would have been asked.

He had never received a note from Shiemi before and couldn’t begin to imagine what it would contain so he immediately opened it.

_ Meet after class behind the east fountain. Don’t tell anyone else. _

What? It was somehow weirder than anything he’d imagined.

It got stranger when Shima, Izumo, and  _ Takara _ came into the room and received the same note. Konekomaru and Rin didn’t. 

Now he was invested.

Yukio came in (no note) and began their lesson. Shima opened his note, read it, frowned with confusion, and folded it back up. Konekomaru leaned towards Shima and whispered something Bon couldn’t hear.

So many questions and no answers. Shiemi was dutifully taking notes of everything Yukio said and wasn’t acting at all like she’d done something unusual.

Izumo was staring at the window like she always did. Her note was sitting neatly on her desk. He wasn’t sure if she had read it or not.

What were in their notes?

It was the longest, dullest, class. He took notes and tried to pay attention to the importance of tiger lilies and daisies but who cared about that when there was something so interesting a few feet away.

There were two other classes that were just as boring. Rin chatted with Shiemi excitedly during the entire five minute break between classes so there wasn’t a chance to find out more information from Shiemi. Konekomaru and Renzou chatted absently about the upcoming holiday. Bon’s eyes were drawn back to the front of the class where Rin was motioning wildly to Shiemi about something. His eyes were darting to the Christmas decor over the windows as he spoke and his eyes lit up.

Rin would love decorations. 

The next class started and Bon once again tried to focus and mostly failed. It was almost the end of the semester so at least they weren’t trying to teach anything important.

Class  _ finally _ ended and Bon gathered all his papers and books up as casually as he could manage. Rin bounced up from his chair with an excited ramble of words that Shiemi nodded to while she gathered her own stuff up. Bon slung his bag over his shoulder and strolled out of the room. Shima, Konekomaru, Izumo, and Takara (?!) all followed him out of the building and towards the fountain. Thankfully they didn’t run into Yukio because they were a very obvious and weird group. The fountain was located and no one else was there. That was when Bon discovered that the fountain was overrun by tiny greenmen

No matter Shiemi had picked it. These were probably Nee’s friends.

Godaiin appeared a few minutes later with Paku. They were both chatting casually and looked mildly surprised to see the rest of them. They greeted each other and then stood in awkward silence.

“Okay, I’ll bite.” Izumo sighed. “What’s with all the cloak and dagger stuff? I’m guessing you all received a note?”

Konekomaru nodded, Shima pulled his note out, and Takara said nothing.

“Yeah, right before class.” Bon offered. 

“She gave me one before PE.” Konekomaru said while Shima passed Izumo his note.

“So she invited everyone but Yukio and-”

“Sorry I’m late!” Shiemi panted. She jogged up to the group, tripping slightly in her flats. “Is everyone here?”

“Yes,” Izumo scowled, “what’s going on?”

Shiemi took a deep breath and grabbed the edge of her coat. “Have any of you been to the abandoned dorm?”

Bon glanced at the others. “Yeah? During the exwire exam? We all took it together in that building.” Kind of hard to forget their first near death experience together even if they hadn’t been in any real danger.

“No, since Christmas. Mr. Pheles didn’t decorate it.” She explained. “The rest of the campus is festive but not their building. I,” She swallowed nervously and burst out with the next words like she was scared someone would tell her no, “I want to decorate it for them!”

“Huh?” Shima asked. He’d already started lounging against the dirty fountain. 

“They love Christmas and I want to decorate their dorm.”

“It’s their birthday, isn’t it?” Bon asked without meaning to. Everyone’s eyes darted to him and he wanted to point out that he wasn’t creepy, he just remembered stuff. It was his job to remember stuff.

Shiemi nodded with a hopeful smile. “Yes!”

Konekomaru glanced around. “I’m fine with that.”

“Sounds like fun.” Godaiin added. 

“Aww hell, if you girls are in I’m in.” Shima said with a wide smile at Izumo who just rolled her eyes.

“Whatever. When are we doing this?” She asked. 

“Tomorrow evening. Rin has to get groceries and Yukio will be out on a mission.”

Bon nodded and was given the assignment of paper snowflakes and angels. He wasn’t sure how Shiemi had found out he was skilled with crafts but at least it would come in handy.

* * *

It was five minutes in and this was already promising to be chaos. Everyone had been tasked with a different decoration and everyone had gone all out in their own unique way. 

They’d also, somehow, forgotten to account for Kuro. Konekomaru was tasked with popcorn strings - apparently Shiemi knew Rin loved them - and Kuro was a big fan. The cat sidhe chased after the strands of popcorn with a wild determination to catch and eat the tasty decoration. Konekomaru dropped the strands and picked up the cat. Bon grabbed the now dusty strands and put them on the table to keep them moderately safe. 

He was assigned to the tree duty with Izumo and Takara which was a  _ terrible  _ idea. It was an old fashioned tree where every branch was its own piece and attached to a center pole. It was supposed to be color coordinated but the thing was so old that the paint had faded off so they were left trying to arrange them by size.

Takara sat on his ass and did nothing but have his stupid puppet make a few quippy remarks that made Izumo look two seconds from hurling a branch at him. Bon was entirely down with joining her on that. 

All the damned branches looked the exact same. Izumo kept claiming she could see the colors but Bon was certain she was lying. It was all just rusted metal with fake greenery.

“This piece goes on the bottom!” Izumo snapped and jerked the branch he was investigating out of his hand. Bon  _ almost _ grabbed it back but this was stupid and he didn’t give a damn about how lopsided this tree ended up. 

(He did give a damn. He really,  _ really,  _ did. He wanted a nice tree and all the damned branches looked too similar.) 

They got most of the branches in place - they both kept switching them out when the other wasn’t looking, and ended up with a mostly decent looking tree. Bon was fairly confident they could hide the wonkiness with lights and a surplus of ornaments. 

They ran out of the paper snowflakes he’d made - Shiemi had gone  _ crazy _ hanging them over the window - so he went to the table to help make more. 

Bon grabbed a sheet of the paper and folded it up neatly. A few snips later and he unfolded it to reveal the snowflake. He set it on the table and grabbed another sheet of paper. He set to folding it, making the creases sharp, and reached for the scissors-

A crumpled ball of paper hit him in the head and landed on top of his partially made snowflake. 

Izumo had her arms crossed grumpily over her chest and Shima was trying very hard to avoid everyone’s eyes and not laugh.

“What the hell, Izumo?!”

She pushed up from the table and stomped over to where Shiemi was trying to hang the stockings. He had no idea  _ why  _ she was trying to hang them because she was by far the shortest person in the room and the mantle was weirdly tall. 

“She tried to make three, man.” Shima laughed around his hand. “You didn’t even have a pattern.”

Bon blushed and finished cutting the snowflake out. It wasn’t his fault he had a good memory and could do this easily. It was just cutting paper.

Godaiin went to assist the short girls with the stockings while Shiemi fetched a box of garland.

Konekomaru grabbed another handful of popcorn for his strand and tried to discreetly pass some to Kuro. The familiar’s over enthusiastic reaction gave him away. 

“You’re not going to have any left for the strand.” Bon pointed out as he put another completed snowflake down. Paku grabbed them and went to the tree with Takara trailing after her. It was the most Bon had seen him move since they arrived.

He cut out ten more snowflakes in varying designs before Shiemi made a startled squeak.

“Oh no!” 

“Oh no what?” Izumo asked as she threw a bit of garland up to to the mantle. 

Shiemi turned to them with big, worried, eyes. “It’s been an hour!”

Bon’s mouth popped open. That was  _ not  _ good news. He knew Rin liked to shop, especially for food, but even he wouldn’t be much longer. It’s not like the twins were loaded.

“Shit,” he muttered and got up.

“We haven’t decorated the rest of the dorm.” Shiemi added. “The hallways, the cafeteria, and their room!”

“Okay.” Konekomaru stood up and pushed his glasses back up. “Shiemi, would Nee be able to decorate the hallways with Kuro? Mike and Uke as well?”

Izumo and Shiemi nodded. Nee shouted his approval at the idea and Kuro sprang out of Konekomaru’s arms- Bon wanted to laugh at the instant regret on his friend’s face - and bounded into the hall. Izumo summoned Mike and Uke and the amount of irritation on their fox faces at being asked to do such a menial task was going to make Bon smile for a long time.

“Alright, while they’re in the hall we can cover everything else. Takara, do you mind keeping an eye on all of them?” The boy didn’t make any verbal response. He just stood up and strolled out of the room. Konekomaru watched him leave before continuing. “Izumo, and Paku can finish with the tree.” He continued, “Shiemi, Godaiin and I can take the cafeteria. Bon and Shima can decorate the twins room.”

That worked for everyone so a few minutes later saw them all dashing to different rooms with their arms full of supplies. 

The twins room was far cleaner than Bon expected Rin’s room to be, but then again, Yukio lived there. 

“Don’t go crazy, Shima.” Bon warned as he surveyed the room. The desk and windows were obvious points of interest. He could probably put some lights around Rin’s bed too. The halfling would like that. It might drive Yukio crazy which Rin would probably like as well. 

It felt a little weird to be in the twin’s room but he doubted Rin would mind since it was clean. Yukio would probably be irritated but wouldn’t say anything. Bon would just keep his intrusion to a minimum and reel in his curiosity. 

He did notice a few photos and couldn’t help but smile. The Kyoto pictures were all hanging up, along with a picture of Father Fujimoto and a picture of Rin, Shura, and Yukio. She had short hair so it was fairly recent. 

Shima made a beeline for the windows and began to hang up a few of the snowflakes Bon had cut out. He climbed up on the desk, knocking a few books over that were probably Yukio’s. That would absolutely irritate the teacher. Bon made a mental note to fix that as he turned his attention back to the bed. He plugged the lights into the wall and they lit up for a moment before blinking out.

Great.

He released a long breath and reminded himself that Rin’s birthday was in a few days and the halfling would be thrilled at all the decorations. Rin had endured a hard year and deserved some decorations.

Bon sat down on the bed and started fiddling with every light bulb. He made it fifty five down the strand before he  _ finally  _ found the loose one. A little tweak made it flicker and turn back on. He stood up triumphantly and looked up to see that, to his horror, Shima had arranged all the books in the shape of a Christmas tree. 

“Shima, what the hell?”

Shima set an angel made of pipe cleaners on top. “What?” He demanded, “It’s festive!”

Bon opened and closed his mouth a few times but he couldn’t think of anything other than explictives. 

He turned back to the bed and blew out an irritated breath. Rin would love this. Bon was going back to Kyoto in a few days and he’d see his family. He was going on vacation and there wouldn’t be any report. It was going to be fun. Rin would enjoy his final week of school and Yukio would probably - once he calmed down from all his stuff being in the wrong place-enjoy it as well. 

It was easy to string the lights along the top of the bed and the sides. They blinked cheerfully and lit up the entire corner in a holiday glow. 

“Ha!” Shima declared victoriously. Bon looked over and saw his friend hanging a strand of mistletoe over the window.

“What the hell, Shima? What-”

“If they bring a girl they’ll be-”

“You know what, no.” He snatched the plant down and shoved it in his pocket. “That’s where I’m drawing the line. Get off their desk. We gotta get back downstairs before they get here.” Shima huffed in irritation and clambered off the desk. “Whatever.” He slouched out of the room and Bon gathered their remaining supplies up. He couldn’t resist leaving a stuffed reindeer on Rin’s bed. 

The rest of the group were finishing up their own assignments. The tree looked decent covered in ornaments and there was no way to tell if it was lopsided or not. The cafeteria looked like Christmas had exploded inside it and Ukobach was muttering in the kitchen. Bon was hopeful that the familiar wasn’t too upset but it was hard to tell with the small chef.

Kuro waltzed into the kitchen with a mouth full of popcorn and a guilty looking Konekomaru. 

“It was only a little.” The aria tried only to stifle a laugh when Izumo offered the cat sidhe some popcorn as well.

“We don’t have much-” Shiemi cut off as Mike and Uke dashed in the room. They yipped something to Izumo who turned to the rest of the group.

“Yeah, they’re here. Are we hiding or leaving?”

“Hide!” Shiemi screeched. There was no place to hide beside the kitchen so they all made a mad dash for it. Bon ducked behind the door since he was the tallest in the group. He could hear a clatter of excited footsteps and a few shouts from Rin. A moment later a slam of a door being shoved open happened and Rin’s voice was much louder.

“It’s in here too!” Rin exclaimed. Bon could picture his excited smile and his wagging tail. His own lips quirked up in anticipation of their excitement. Shiemi was barely visible where she was hiding behind the counter and her own smile was almost too big for her face.

She caught his eye and nodded. Bon got his hand on the door and braced himself to spring out. 

Two seconds later, Shiemi nodded and they were all bursting out of their hiding spots with a ‘surprise!’

Godaiin and Konekomaru were late on the popup which made Shima laugh.

Rin’s eyes were huge and he was still wrapped up in a jacket, two scarfs, gloves, and a knit hat. 

“You guys?” He sniffed, “All of this?”

Shiemi nodded adamantly. 

Tears sprang into Rin’s eyes even as his smile grew. His fangs peeked out and his tail started to wag through the air just like Bon had known it would. Shiemi gave him a tight hug and the tears fell down the halfling’s cheeks. He sniffed out several words Bon couldn’t understand. Konekomaru offered him a tissue while Godaiin helped relieve him of his grocery bags. Bon joined in helping with that and set them on the table. Ukobach mumbled something in his strange language and started to unpack them.

Yukio was hanging back by the doorway with a small smile as he took in all the decorations. 

“You guys gotta stay for dinner, okay?!” Rin broke away from Shiemi’s hug and scrubbed his hand across his eyes. “I got stuff for sukiyaki!”

Bon was game for that. Any excuse to eat Rin’s cooking was an excuse to take. 

Bon and Konekomaru were the only two of the group who had decent experience in the kitchen so they helped make dinner. Rin rambled about his day and all the stuff he’d seen at the store as they prepared the food. Yukio’s soft laughter drifted in from the dining hall, along with the rest of their friends and Rin’s smile was brighter than the Christmas tree.

Rin’s tail was wagging the entire time and, yeah, Shiemi might suck at secret missions but this entire thing had been absolutely worth it.

**Author's Note:**

> Title from the song of the same name in the Elf musical.
> 
> Also, if you've ever had to put an old fashioned tree together, it sucks when they lose their colors :P


End file.
